Laura Engler (born October 16, 1999) is a Swiss curler from

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

Career

Engler was selected as a member of the Swiss mixed team at the

2016 Winter Youth Olympics The 2016 Winter Youth Olympics ( no, Olympiske vinterleker for ungdom 2016; nn, Olympiske vinterleikane for ungdom 2016), officially known as the II Winter Youth Olympic Games, took place in and around Lillehammer, Norway, between 12 February an ...

. Engler threw

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

stones on the team, which was

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aidin ...

ped by

Selina Witschonke Selina Witschonke (born December 17, 1998) is a Swiss curler originally from St. Moritz. She currently plays second on Team Silvana Tirinzoni. Career In 2016, Witschonke was named to the Swiss team for the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lille ...

. The team finished the round robin with a 6–1 record, finishing second in their pool. They then beat Sweden 7–3 in the quarter-finals before dropping the semifinal 7–5 to Canada. They won the bronze medal with an 11–3 defeat over Russia. In the mixed doubles event, she was paired with Brazil's Victor Santos. The two lost in their only game, losing 9–1 to

Zhao Ruiyi Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), a Chinese surname ** commonly spelled Chao in Taiwan or up until the early 20th century in other regions ** Chiu, from the Cantonese pronunciation ** Cho (Korean surname), represent the Hanja 趙 (Chinese ...

of China and

Andreas Hårstad Andreas Hårstad (born 11 November 1998 in Oppdal) is a Norwegian curler. He currently skips his own team out of Oppdal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Dovre region and the traditional district of Orkdale ...

of Norway. Engler played for Switzerland in three straight

World Junior Curling Championships The World Junior Curling Championships are an annual curling bonspiel featuring the world's best curlers who are 21 years old or younger. The competitions for both men and women occur at the same venue. The men's tournament has occurred since 1 ...

from 2017 to 2019. In 2017, she was the team's alternate and did not play in any games. The team, skipped by Witschonke went 5–4 in group play, before losing to South Korea in a tiebreaker. After winning the 2018

Swiss Junior Curling Championships The Swiss Junior Curling Championships are the national championships of men's and women's junior curling teams in Switzerland. Junior level curlers must be under the age of 21. The championships have been held annually since 1972 for junior men and ...

as a member of the Raphaela Keiser rink, she was invited to be the Swiss team's alternate again at the

2018 World Junior Curling Championships The 2018 World Junior Curling Championships was held from March 3 to 10 at Curl Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mai ...

. Despite being the alternate, she saw action in seven matches. The team, still skipped by Witschonke went 4–5, and missed the playoffs. As Swiss Junior champions from 2018, the Keiser rink earned the right to represent Switzerland at the

2019 World Junior Curling Championships The 2019 World Junior Curling Championships was held from February 16 to 23 at the Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from ...

. The team added Witschonke to the team, throwing last rocks, with Keiser at third (but still skipping) and Engler at second. Through the round robin, the team finished third overall with a 6–3 record, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time. After losing 8–2 in the semifinal against Canada, the team rebounded in the bronze medal game by stealing two in the tenth end to upend China 6–4 and secure Switzerland's first women's world junior medal since 2015. After her junior career, Engler began playing

mixed doubles curling Mixed is the past tense of ''mix''. Mixed may refer to: * Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category), an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 1991 Census * ''Mixed'' (album), a co ...

, first playing with Marco Hefti. In 2023, she paired up with

Kevin Wunderlin Kevin Wunderlin (born 17 December 1991) is a Swiss curler. He currently skips the Biel/Bienne curling team on the World Curling Tour. Wunderlin's first international curling experience came at the 2013 European Mixed Curling Championship, when Wu ...

, and won her first

World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later assistance from Jo ...

event at the Prague Open.

Personal life

Engler is originally from

Lutzenberg Lutzenberg is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. Its hamlet of Tobel is listed as a heritage site of national significance. History Lutzenberg is first mentioned in 1634 as ''Lutzenberg''. Lutzenberg, Heiden ...

, and moved to St. Gallen before 2018. Her mother Gabi, father Roger and grandfather were involved in the sport, with her father coaching her women's junior team, and her grandfather being president of the St. Gallen Curling Club. She is a graduate of the

Appenzellerland Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, b ...

Sports School, where she was also a

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

. She also attended the

Trogen Trogen may refer to: People * Karl-Erling Trogen (born 1946) Places * Trogen, Switzerland Trogen is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. The town is the seat of the canton's judicial authorities. History The ...

Cantonal School, where she studied biology and chemistry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engler, Laura Swiss female curlers Living people 1999 births People from Appenzell Ausserrhoden Sportspeople from St. Gallen (city) 21st-century Swiss sportswomen Curlers at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics